


Territory/Boundary

by starrylitme



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Bloodlust, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Suggestive Themes, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 12:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8206466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrylitme/pseuds/starrylitme
Summary: Hinata doesn't want to be a monster, but regardless of how reluctant he is about it, a vampire's still a vampire.
And Komaeda has the kind of scent he can't ignore.
(Nor the kind of personality.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wow this got obscenely longer than it was supposed to get like what even the hell considering this is JUST A ONESHOT.
> 
> Eh, what can you do.
> 
> It's really my own fault for getting stupidly invested in this verse. I just..wanted to write Vampire!Hinata/Komaeda for so long and when I had the excuse to finish this fic up, I...kind of went crazy.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it all the same!!!

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” she asks sweetly with a sharp smile and a laugh that makes his body practically shake, the throbbing getting worse and worse. With a cock of her head and hands on her hips, she leaned towards him, voice practically a whisper. “Tell me, why are you doing this again? Why are you fighting your instincts? Is pretending you’re not a monster really worth all this self-inflicted agony and suffering?”

_Shut up..._ The thought was harsh, loud enough it made his head hurt even more as he futilely pressed his hands to his ears to block her out. _Shut up, shut up, shut up!!_

“Isn’t it _sooo_ hard?” she asks, still so sweet, still so sharp. “And for what, anyway? No matter what you do—you can’t deny what you’ve become. What I’ve _made_ of you. Shouldn’t you just accept that? It’ll help!”

_Shut up—stop—I don’t—please, please...please..._

“Poooor baby,” she murmurs into his ear, lips brushing against his hand, pressing her smile to his knuckles, gently trailing her nails down his arm. “But I didn’t do this to you just to make you suffer, you know? It’s for _your ooooown good_! Hey... Hey... I don’t want you hurting, either, so...

He chokes on a sob and his tear-stained eyes, stained with tears, stained with crimson, flicker open to see her bright, lover’s smile. She parts her hair from her neck, lids lowering on her red, slit gaze. She pulls the collar from her blouse away to reveal the curve of her bare shoulder, exposing that sweet junction between shoulder and neck, making his watery eyes widen. She parts her lips to words he doesn’t register—but _remembers_ and he—

He pounces on nothing in that next instant. Nothing. Ah. _Right._

She had never been there in the first place.

He snuffles, gasps, a dried, empty throat breathing in cold, dusty air with hints of something sweet—something beyond desirable in his state and—

_No, no... Stay. You have to stay where you are. Just a little longer. Please... Please just stay..._

**_“But_ why _? What’s the point when it hurts so much?”_**

_...shut up...just shut up..._

**_“You’re dying. You’re going to die if you keep this up. What’s the point of that?”_ **

_I’m not...I’m not a..._

**_“Monster? Oh, but you are, my sweet_ Haji _—”_**

It was then he caught a whiff of blood. Sweeter. Stronger. That shouldn’t have been right. He picked this place so that such scents would be _faint_ —so that it’d be all the easier to **_resist_** and yet. And _yet_.

**_No... No, no, no, come on Hinata, you have to stay. Stay here. Don’t even dare to—_ **

“Oh, is the smell making you salivate?” she asks him with a giggle, prodding his cheek with her finger. “Hey, go for it. It’ll taste so much sweeter because you haven’t had any in so long. Come on. Your valiant efforts should be rewarded, right?”

**_They won’t mean anything if I just—_ **

“There’s no one who’s going to appreciate them anyway.” Her voice is cold, boring into him as he flinched. “No one cares either way about what you’re going through. All this suffering may sound valiant but it’s really for nothing and you know that. So, I ask, that’s the point? Do you really deserve this?”

Words wrapping around him like an unforgiving vice, he simply trembled as she went on.

“Suffering. Dying. For nothing but an act. Just you pretending you’re still human. Isn’t that pathetic? Even if there was someone out there who gave a damn, who’d be impressed? It’s not a noble sacrifice. It’s senseless. And who’d want to die senselessly? Hey, just breathe.” He can hear her smirk—can see it perfectly, and almost can fool himself into feeling her, the way her fingers cup his chin, tilting it towards that faraway, window, broken with air whistling through the jagged edge. The scent filtering through that opening feels a lot like the strokes of her phantom touch. “Isn’t that smell _delicious_?”

“Delicious...” he echoes, salivating, and he hears her giggle as he springs up to his feet, stumbling and—

**_...n’t... Don’t..._ **

_Don’t what?_ He really wondered. **_Resist_** _? Right. Right... What’s even the point—whoever they are—they have such a_ **delicious smell** _..._

And what else was there to think about other than that?

* * *

He practically kicks the door down and throws himself outside into the open air, jerking his head back and forth and determine the smell’s location. With the bitter wind, it was even stronger, sweeter to the point he was already imagining the taste—already thrilling for it.

There were other scents too. But not so close. Not so strong. Not nearly as _desirable_.

He can’t even feel the cold as he chases it down, rushing and swerving through alleyways and around corners. Not really thinking except—

_There. They’re right there._

If he had been in the right mind, he would have contemplated their appearance more. Would have wondered what they were even doing in this area—would have looked at them, really looked at them with their long green coat, their frail back, strange, wispy and wild curls of white, fluttering with the breeze like a flower’s petals.

Just as they turned around the corner, Hinata’s hand closed around a thin, bony wrist, thumb stroking the pulse. The human turned to him quickly, and for a second, Hinata saw their face. Fair, with widening gray-green eyes and long, white lashes, with parting, pink lips. The soft curves of those cheeks were tinted pink from the cold.

Such a delicate looking face. Something _she_ would have loved to ruin. Would have stopped to ruin.

Hinata slams them into the cold stone wall, uncaring of the yelp let out, and it only takes him a second to find just the right spot and angle to bury his fangs in. The skin breaks as easily as though it were made for this, the blood even better than his poor imagination allowed for. Even though this human was so, so frail, their skin so chilled by the air, they tasted so warm, so _alive_ —the coppery taste was headier than anything he ever experienced. Almost like it was **_made_** for this. To be drank just _like **this**_.

It’d be so easy to lose himself. And after everything, _why not_?

He’s not sure how much he drank, or how long he drank for. All he knew was that if he could have spent the rest of his life like this, with this _incredible_  taste, he would have.

His fangs were still tingling when he finally pulled back, unable to help letting out a laugh. Despite feeling otherwise completely satisfied, he wouldn’t have minded just continuing to drink until his stomach burst. He almost felt giddy from how good it all was—giggling to himself and eager to lap every bit of blood from his lips and...

Everything gave way. The high of his mood came crashing down when the human slips through his fingers, collapsing to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. Blood drips down the bite still, pooling underneath. He hadn’t even realized there was a point where the other just slumped into his hold while he drank.

Hinata stares, lips still twisted upwards before crumbling, shaking, and falling to his knees as he buried his fingers into his hair and screamed until that throat of his went raw all over again.

_I have to get out of here._ Even his thoughts were screaming. **_I HAVE TO GET OUT!!_**

He forced himself to move, stumbling over himself and scrambling and not really paying attention to anything else except when an almost skeletal hand— _weak, so very weak_ —wraps around his wrist, stilling him in a heartbeat.

Hinata turns, slowly, and meets fluttering gray-greens on a pale, so very pale, so very exhausted face. Hinata stares back, disbelieving and frozen. That feeble grip tugs his wrist and the human’s features twist into pained as they let out a wretched groan, tumbling forward. They would have face-planted into the ground before him had Hinata not caught the other by instinct, hand clasping onto their arm, and helping pull them to their feet.

They couldn’t really stand. But they really shouldn’t have been _alive_ , so...

“I...” Hinata trails off, seeing that the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore. Blood still grotesquely streaked the skin and the hood of their coat, and even though it still smelled wonderful, Hinata couldn’t help but grimace. He would have covered his mouth if he wasn’t trying to support... “ _Urgh_...”

_I nearly—but I should have...! This person should be _ **dead**_. Why aren’t they dead?!_

“You really look confused. It _is_ confusing, isn’t it?”

Hinata startles out of his thoughts. That voice is soft, like the very puffs of air it takes, and Hinata’s paralyzed when he meets that green-gray gaze again, vaguely wondering if he wasn’t imagining how suddenly bright that gaze looked. As if the eyes with alit with...something he didn’t understand. He didn’t really understand at all, especially not the smile playing on soft, pink lips as the human, looking brightly up at him, cocks their head to the side.

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain it though my wording might be...lacking...” Is it intentional that the other leans into him, gasping a bit? “But, ah, first... First... I... I’m Komaeda Nagito. And you are?”

Komaeda. The human is named _Komaeda_.

“...Hinata... Hajime.”

“Hinata-kun!” Komaeda chirps, cheerfully like a little bird. As though they were newly-made friends. Hinata never felt colder. Or more confused. Even as Komaeda makes the whole situation sound light, with how his tone is, “Hinata-kun, then. Well, then, let’s get going? Ah, I’m sorry, Hinata-kun, but you may have to carry me home, because see...” Komaeda pulls so they’re just a little closer to each other. Komaeda looks apologetic. Innocent. The staleness of drying blood coats the sweet scent. “It’s so difficult...to walk after I’ve been drank from. And you had been starving, right? Recently changed too, I assume... I understand if it’s a bit much to ask for your assistance, but I...”

_I don’t understand at all._

“Is that alright? Hinata-kun?”

“Yes,” Hinata answers instinctively, eyes still on that caked blood, feeling his filled stomach turn and wanting to scratch it off with his nails. Or even his teeth. “Let’s go then.”

_Komaeda._ He doesn’t say but he thinks the name, and it weighs him down in ways he may never, at any point, comprehend. Even as he can’t stop thinking. _Komaeda...?_

**_Komaeda, Komaeda..._ **

“Thank you, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda responds happily, and it should be wrong. It should be all _wrong_ , and yet...

When had someone _ever_ said his name like that?

* * *

Komaeda, in spite of being so bright earlier, sleeps for a long time in a bed that looks too big for one person. Hinata, unsure and still in a whirl, hovers by as he does. Not for the entire time, of course—at one point he made tea.

Komaeda...had a lot of tea to choose from. Despite that, there wasn’t much variety in potential meals to make. Almost like Komaeda hardly ate at all. But there was the tea, at least. It was very fragrant—a very comforting sort of scent...

Compared to how Komaeda’s blood smelled, it might as well been reduced to decay.

_...Urgh._

Unsurprisingly, Komaeda’s scent was _everywhere_ , too. Hinata was beyond tempted to gnaw on the bed itself, even if the other hadn’t been lying in it. If he hadn’t gorged himself, then, well...

Well, he already knows what would happen, doesn’t he? Especially with Komaeda resting oh so innocently in front of him, an ugly mar on a pale, thin neck in the shape of his teeth. Ridiculous.

How’d he even get into this situation?

Her sharp, sickening smile flashed across his mind, and Hinata immediately scowled. Snarled, even, only for a soft murmur to snap him out of it.

“Aah... Hinata-kun?”

“K-Komaeda?” The name still leaves a strange taste in his mouth—not sweet but not...unpleasant, either. Hinata almost smiles, but then he remembers his fangs, and he keeps his lips close together, mumbling, “Are you...doing alright? Or...? Uh...”

“Mm...” Komaeda stretches with a groan, joints popping and face scrunching up.

“I...I made tea!” Hinata burst out. Gulping, he went on, trying not to stammer too much, “It...should still be on the counter...? I can pour you some if you...want...”

“Please,” Komaeda mumbled, yawning into his hand. “I’m dreadfully dehydrated right now.”

_Anyone would be if they lost that much blood..._ Hinata thought as he quickly nodded. “Do you need me to help you to the kitchen, Komaeda?”

“Is that alright?” Komaeda asks, drearily with curious blinks of those gray-green doe eyes. “That’s kind of you to offer, Hinata-kun...”

“Not...really...” _It’s not even the least I can do, considering..._ “I’ll, uh, try to be careful...”

He says that but he flinches as soon as he’s close enough. Komaeda, seemingly oblvious, just wraps his arms around his neck, hooks his legs around his waist. Like a koala bear. It’s cute.

And Hinata’s salivating at the smell, at the unmarked side of neck so close to his lips and ripe for drinking. It’d be so _easy_ —keeping his arms wrapped around Komaeda’s back and holding on tight—caging him even as he’ll squirm and struggle against being drained.

His teeth just barely brush against skin. Komaeda sighs and relaxes further against him, murmuring, “Hinata-kun...”

Hinata immediately pulls back, adjusts how he’s carrying the other. His throat feels dry—but shame and guilt are filling his gut enough that he can ignore it.

“C’mon,” he says, laughing coldly and humorlessly. “Let’s uh, get you...to the kitchen...”

“Mm... Kay...” Komaeda drones and practically rests against him. It’s...cute. It’s so, so cute.

_It’d be so easy._

Hinata heads off, gripping the other firmly while keeping his teeth tightly clenched.

* * *

The tea’s gotten kind of cold. But Hinata thinks it’s still pretty warm, all things considered.

Still, it should be a worry how many cups Komaeda downs in a relatively short time. In the very least, he’s more lively, more flushed and alive and smiling as he hums appreciatively at the tea’s fragrance.

That’s good. That’s a relief.

That fragrance really doesn’t compare at _all_.

Hinata picks at the inside of his cheek with his teeth. He might just leave a scar. He can live with that.

“Hinata-kun.” Komaeda turns to him, with shut eyes, long lashes, and a wide, cheerful smile. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Hinata dully replies. The miserably quirked corner of his lips can hardly be considered a smile in return. “It’s, uh...the least I could do, considering...”

“Considering...” Komaeda repeats, and then perks up, eyes going wide. “Oh! Right! Hinata-kun, you must be thirsty too!”

“Oh, I’ll pour myself a cup...” Hinata mumbles, looking towards the kettle. His nose wrinkles at the idea. When he tried the tea earlier, as kind of nice as the fragrance was... It hadn’t exactly been filling like...

“You know,” Komaeda says, setting his cup aside. “That’s not what I meant.”

Hinata jerks towards him, eyes immediately large.

Komaeda has a demure smile, hands folded delicately in his lap. His expression is expectant.

“You’re thirsty, aren’t you, _Hinata-kun_?” He asks, and that smile widens.

Without thinking, Hinata’s tongue runs over his teeth. He nearly bites it off with a shudder. “N-No, no... I... I’m good.”

“You’re shaking,” Komaeda says, and then beckons with a delicate hand, “Come here, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata, entranced by the visible, spindly purple veins running across that bony wrist, couldn’t help but obey without complaint. He practically kneels before the other, uncomfortably close, and holding his breath, only to seize up when Komaeda reaches out—and digs his index finger hard into the corner of Hinata’s mouth.

Hinata flinches as Komaeda’s finger pushes through his lips, and _prods_ one of his fangs. He’s frozen still—and Komaeda asks, lowly and almost curiously, “They’re sensitive, aren’t they?”

Hinata’s eyes squeeze tight, and when Komaeda pulls back, he nods furiously.

“Hmm,” Komaeda hums while Hinata shakes, and before Hinata can think further on the matter, Komaeda’s thumb hooks into his mouth, and immediately the pad of that thumb digs into his sharp teeth and the skin breaks, the taste of blood instantly filling up all his senses and completely blurring everything else. Hinata barely even hears Komaeda go on, oh so innocently, “Hey, Hinata-kun, will you answer me some questions? They’re just yes or no ones.”

Hinata’s lips closed around his thumb, lapping up the blood, and with a moan, he nodded.

“Do you remember being changed?” Komaeda asks, and then adds, “Sometimes, recently changed vampires don’t remember who, exactly, changed them. I assume it’s because some more, ah, _special_ vampires have the abilities to mentally manipulate a person.”

In the corner of Hinata’s mind, one that isn’t drowning itself in bloodlust and indulgence, he thinks about how manipulative is definitely a word he’d use to describe _her_.

So he nods, humming, flicking his tongue against Komaeda’s thumb.

“Oh, good. That makes this much easier!” Komaeda even giggles. It’s high-pitched, but pleasant to listen to, soothing, almost, like bells—but maybe that’s because part of him is thinking about the way _she_ laughed. “Tell me, Hinata-kun, do you clearly remember the face of the one who changed you?”

That thumb presses even harder against his teeth, the sharp edges digging into the cut, keeping it from ever closing. Hinata’s head almost spun, muffling the part of his mind musing about how strange this situation might’ve been—and he just barely remembers to nod.

Even like this, he remembers her face perfectly, for better and for worse—mostly for worse.

“A woman, right?”

“Yeah...” He trails off, sweet blood on his tongue and that incessant voice getting louder about _how strange this was._

“Let me guess her appearance,” Komaeda said. He shut his eyes, feigning thoughtfulness as he hummed, but scrapped his thumb against Hinata’s teeth, making him gasp and—

The realization that Komaeda’s essentially mutilating himself like someone with an actual problem is sobering enough that he yanks himself back, shoving Komaeda’s hand away, stumbling onto his rump. He swallows the rest of the blood, pupils dilating, but kept an alertness as Komaeda, seemingly oblivious, continued to hum.

“Strawberry-blond. Blue eyes. Red nails.” Komaeda laps a long, easy line against his bloodied thumb without so much as a wince, even as he sucks at the injuries, tasting his own blood. Gray-greens flutter open, lowering to meet widened crimsons with no trace of readable emotion. “Tell me,” Komaeda says, pulling away from his thumb—and Hinata realizes that just like that, the injuries are gone. Just like they never existed. “Is that woman’s name Enoshima Junko?”

He immediately shudders. He immediately stammers, feeling like his pores are pouring with nothing but cold sweat, “H-How... How did you...k-know...?”

“I’m right!” Komaeda exclaims cheerfully with such a childishly bright smile that it’s like a kid getting the right answer in _class_ , what the hell. “How lucky of me!”

“Lucky?” Hinata echoes, though it sounds more like a gurgle as he laughs, hysterically. “L-Lucky? Seriously? If you know Enoshima, then you should know—you should know that _she’s_...”

“A real monster,” Komaeda finishes for him. He helplessly nods, feeling a bit better at Komaeda’s lips pulled into a straight line—at him actually looking really serious about this matter for once. “I’m aware of that. Enoshima Junko...is a shockingly wretched thing, isn’t she? You haven’t even been with her that long, Hinata-kun—” And Hinata does flinch; he doesn’t even think about how surprising it is that Komaeda already seems to _know_ that. “But you still understand, don’t you?”

Hinata swallows. He still tastes remnants of blood. What he wouldn’t give to lose himself in a situation like this—but he leans further away from Komaeda, from his scent and from his sudden, serene smile.

“I...” He struggles, but somehow, somehow manages, “Komaeda... Do you... _know_ her?”

_Komaeda,_ Hinata thinks and realizes. _Komaeda has the kind of delicate face she’d **love** to ruin._

“What’s that look for, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda asks cheerfully. “It’s a little unsettling.”

“That’s...” Hinata swallows, gaze darting up and down. He notices that the bite mark is gone. It had been deep and left quite a bruise—but now it’s gone. “The...question. Please just answer the question, Komaeda. _Please_.”

“ _Please_?” Komaeda curiously echoes. “There’s really no need to beg like that. Obviously I’m familiar with her name. And I know what she looks like—so it’d be reasonable to expect me to know _her_ , right?”

“That’s not just what I mean!” Hinata snapped and he found himself recoiling almost violently away. His breathing was heavy—and for once the smell wasn’t enough to calm him down. “I mean—has she...done something to you or...? You’re not...”

He wasn’t a vampire, obviously. Not with a smell like this.

Not with teeth like that, with the way Komaeda gave him such a cheeky grin.

But come to think of it—he’d seen a cheeky grin like that once _before_.

“My,” Komaeda says, giggling. “Aren’t you a curious one, Hinata-kun? Are you really that worried about a person you almost killed?”

“No...” Hinata croaks, and stammers. “N-No, no, I—I didn’t mean to—!”

“You were just being careless.” Komaeda almost sounds understanding. Except he adds, matter-of-factly, “If it had been anyone besides me, Hinata-kun, make no mistake—there _would_ be blood on your hands. With how much you drank, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could’ve easily drained a person.”

There’s nothing to say to that.

_I should’ve just let myself starve. I shouldn’t have..._

His fists were clenching hard enough to hurt.

“Oh, but Hinata-kun!!” Komaeda exclaimed, and he finally stands from his chair and lowers himself to his knees before him on the floor. Hinata flinches back, but one whiff and he’s still, almost dazed, and Komaeda’s delicate fingers wrap around his wrist. Komaeda tugs it forward, placing his other hand on Hinata’s own with nothing more than angelic sympathy on his features. “You mustn’t be so ashamed. It’d not like it’s your fault. You didn’t ask to be like this, did you?”

Hinata felt his eyes sting and shook his head furiously. “ _God_ , no.”

“She really ruined you, didn’t she,” Komaeda crooned sweetly, stroking his wrist with a gentle thumb, and then he squeezed it with both his hands. “Hinata-kun, do you hate her?”

Immediately he nods. He doesn’t hesitate for a second.

“Do you want her _dead_ , Hinata-kun?” Komaeda’s still speaking so gently, as though he was offering comfort. Somewhere in the back of Hinata’s mind, he wonders. He should be more disturbed than he is—but considering what a _monster_ that woman is...

“Yeah,” he mutters, tongue running against his sharp, sharp teeth and feeling revulsion and _hate_ well up in his gut. There was a reason he nearly ripped her throat out when she coaxed him into drinking. And she had _laughed_.

Komaeda laughs. Komaeda squeezed his wrist firmly. His eyes are sparkling with expectation and an excitement that makes Hinata’s own stare widen.

“I thought so!” Komaeda exclaims—almost _squeals_. “The second I saw you, I just knew! We really have a lot in common, Hinata-kun!”

_...Just because we hate the same horrible person...?_

“I... Komaeda, you really think that...?”

“I do, I do!” Komaeda chirps, shaking his hand eagerly. “I really am _fortunate_ to have met you!”

_I nearly killed you._

“To think, I meet not only a vampire who knows that wretched woman—but also one who shares my sentiments and desires! I’m really, really lucky, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda almost looked like he was about to cry tears of _joy_ , what even the _hell_. “Thank you so much...!”

“I nearly **_killed_** you,” Hinata said aloud, almost blurting it as he yanks his hand back. He gets to his feet. Komaeda merely blinks up at him, like he just _doesn’t **get** it_. “I could _still_ kill you! If I can’t control my thirst, Komaeda, I...! How even the hell can you _say_ —?!”

“You won’t kill me, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda says that like it’s obvious, blinking doe eyes at him that make Hinata feel like his chest is seizing up. “I’m not worried about that, so you shouldn’t worry either. I’m not going to die to you. I know I won’t.”

“That’s...some real enviable assurance...” Hinata laughs, haggardly and disbelievingly. “I’m sorry, but I... I just don’t see how that’s not something to worry about? Or...to be so sure about...?”

“Hinata-kun, you must have noticed by now my blood isn’t exactly like a normal human’s.”

...Of course he noticed.

Normal people don’t smell like Komaeda does.

Normal people don’t heal like he does.

... _Heal_. Oh. _Duh_.

“My blood cells multiple at quite the accelerated rate,” Komaeda explains simply, rubbing at the nape of his neck as he does. “I can still faint from blood loss and anemia, mind you—but it’s made me distressingly durable. I’ve survived more vampire attacks than I can count, Hinata-kun. It could just be a lot of bad luck, but...” His tone lowers, bit by bit. “I think it has more to do with my _stench_. Like flies to rot, I suppose.”

“I...probably wouldn’t use that comparison, but...” Hinata covered his nose and mouth, swallowing as he did. He looks away, keeping his stare fixated on the empty teacup on the table. “So that’s why you’re not scared of me at all, huh...? You’ve probably made a lot of other vampire friends or something.”

“Friends?” Komaeda repeats, perking up. “What a funny word to use.”

Hinata chuckles ruefully, shaking his head. “You, uh, know what I mean. How many other vampires do you know? I mean, with that smell of yours, wouldn’t quite a few want to...stick around?”

_Come to think of it, putting it like that almost sounds..._

“Hinata-kun...”

“N-Never mind!” he stammered out, flustered. “Uh, just forget I said anything...! It... I doesn’t matter anyway! S-Sorry, Komaeda...”

“Oh, no, there’s really nothing to apologize for, Hinata-kun...” Komaeda says, only to trail off when Hinata offers his hand. Komaeda gave him an odd look, but took Hinata’s hand to help himself up all the same. “For what it’s worth, I have offered my blood in exchange for information before...”

Hinata goes rigid, and yet when Komaeda stumbles a bit, he still uses Hinata as support. And he goes on.

“Vampires can be so greedy, Hinata-kun—they’re such deplorable creatures. That she insists on making more of them is an absolute travesty, don’t you think?” Lowering his voice, Komaeda murmurs against his ear with such _feeling_ , “And some of her victims are quite unwilling. Like _you_ , right, Hinata-kun?”

“I... Right...” Hinata slumps in despair, laughing helplessly and without even thinking, he wraps his arms around the other, trembling as Komaeda is still.

Slowly, but surely, Komaeda gives his shoulders a gentle squeeze before nuzzling in close.

“It really is a shame what she did to you,” he coos, warmly and sweetly. “You’re such a kind person, Hinata-kun.” A pause, and then, as delicate fingers began to stroke his hair, “She really ruined you, didn’t she?”

Hinata shakily nodded against him like before, clinging onto his frail frame harder—almost hard enough to crush. Despite that Komaeda kept on humming serenely, all while stroking his hair comfortingly.

It really was calming too. His voice, his touch, his warmth—the pleasantness of his scent... If he really could, he’d stay like this, holding onto Komaeda, listening to his humming overlaying his heartbeat.

Hinata would’ve liked that. He’d like to indulge in this. Maybe things would seem so bad if he just stayed like this, accepting the warmth and comfort that only another living being could provide. It’d be nice.

It’d be great. Perfect, even.

And, yet.

Just as it really feels like tears are truly about to fall—Hinata _bites_.

* * *

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Hinata-kun.”

“I’m so, so sorry.”

“Ehehe. It’s really nothing.”

“I...” Hinata clenched his knees tighter, bowing his head. He couldn’t look up at Komaeda’s calm smile—at the rag he has pressed up against his neck to soak up the seeping blood. The sweetness coating the air tastes unbearably bitter, and Hinata curled even more into himself, choking out. “I... I...” He shakes his head furiously. “I don’t _want_ to be a monster...!”

“Hinata-kun...” Komaeda says, voice a little lower before he trails off. He’s quiet for a moment as Hinata sniffles—as Hinata wipes furiously at his stinging eyes that wouldn’t leak tears no matter how much he willed them. Then, with a sigh, Komaeda asks, “Do you think people _want_ to get sick?”

Hinata snapped up. Pulling the rag away from his neck, showing only a fading bruise, Komaeda went on.

“I don’t just mean the common cold or stuffy throat, Hinata-kun. I mean the diseases that deteriorate you from the inside out. Malignancies, cancers, brain disorders. The kind you can’t exactly prevent and can only temper, not cure. Do you think people _ask_ for such things?” Komaeda met his gaze sharply. “You’d have to be utterly foolish.”

_Is that really the same thing...?_ Sucking in air, feeling himself shiver, Hinata really wondered. _There are some people who_ would _ask for this. But..._

He couldn’t help but think that any person who would willingly become a monster mustn’t have been very human to begin with.

He can’t help but think Komaeda feels the same way.

“That said, in this case I see Enoshima Junko as a tumor—one that should be cut and removed. It wouldn’t end the disease that is vampirism altogether but...” Komaeda giggles, and then, with lowering lashes, he asked, “The loss of one so influential and powerful should at least make a dent, don’t you think? And so many of her pets... they’d be _lost_ without a master. They’d probably kill themselves then and there.”

What a sickening thought. But, honestly, Hinata wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

“You understand, right?” Komaeda asks, lighting up with expectancy. “You feel the same way, _don’t_ you, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata just nods along in agreement.

“Then—Hinata- _kun_!” Komaeda’s sudden exclamation, his voice rising in fervor, made the other snap up in attention. That excited expectation looked almost _dazzling_. “Can I ask you to help me?”

“H...Help...?” Hinata croaked, right before Komaeda dove right in, taking his hands.

“That woman changed you. She thinks you’re _hers_ —she’s expecting you to come back to her, don’t you see?!” Brighter and brighter, like a flame roaring to life, Komaeda’s grip on his hands tightened as he grew more impassioned. “Someone like her—she’s far too arrogant to ever suspect one of her own turning on her. In the very least, she’s not going to expect you to go _through_ with it. She’ll let her guard down—and it’ll be so much easier to get the chance to _kill_ her.”

“You...” And then, the implications had his pupils shrinking, and Hinata recoiled _violently_ out of Komaeda’s grasp as he shrieked. “You want me to go _back_?!”

“I...” Komaeda seemed taken aback and confused. “Hinata-kun, that... That reaction...”

“I re _fuse_!” Hinata practically shouted, nerves tightening up and threatening to burst any second. “I won’t—I... I’m not going back there!!”

“Hinata-kun,” Komaeda sighs at him. Like he’s just being petulant— _childish_ , even. “I understand that woman’s presence is unbearably unpleasant, but for the sake of the greater good, you _must_...”

_Must?_ Hinata could have broken down then and there screaming. **_Must_** _?! How can you even say something like that so easily?!_

“I...” Swallowing back bitterness, he settled on just shaking his head furiously. “N-No... _No_... I-I’m... I’m sorry, Komaeda, but I can’t... I just can’t...”

“Goodness,” Komaeda exhales, dull with dissatisfaction. “That’s despairingly disappointing. You’re really going to give up that easily? I thought there was more...hope to you than that, Hinata-kun.”

“L-Look, if you’ve been in her company, you know...” Hinata nearly swallowed his own tongue as he choked out, “Y-You know what she’s _like_. I... I just...”

“Alright then,” Komaeda sighs and stands. “Okay. Be that way, Hinata-kun.”

“I should probably get going anyway...” Hinata found himself muttering as he stared at the floor and Komaeda simply brushed past him. Probably to either toss out the rag or scrub out the blood stains, he thought. Hinata’s hands clenched tightly onto his knees. “I...” His tone wavered as it rose. “I-I really appreciated...your hospitality. Considering what I did, I really...really didn’t deserve it. If there’s, uh, another way I can help you...”

“Well, I suppose you let me know that woman is indeed in this area—or at least, she can’t be too far, I suppose,” Komaeda muses. Hinata perks up hearing those soft footsteps once again approach, but he still doesn’t dare look up, even as Komaeda says, “That’s at least a little useful as information. Oh, but, Hinata-kun, you have once again piqued my curiosity.”

He doesn’t dare look up, but he still answers, albeit with that half-dead tone, “What else are you curious about?”

“Where do you plan on going if not to her?” Komaeda’s curious question sounds almost innocent. Hinata flinches, hunching in further on himself as the other goes on, “I mean—surely, Hinata-kun—you don’t plan on going off to some desolated place to _die_ like an unfortunate stray cat.”

He doesn’t answer.

“That _is_ what you plan on doing, isn’t it?” Komaeda sounds unimpressed. The tone’s so much like _hers_ that he recoils violently and stares back into cold gray-greens. Komaeda frowns in return, with clear dismay. “You’re really that hopeless, then? Or is there more to it? Do you think you’re doing the world a favor by dying so miserably?”

He doesn’t answer. He didn’t have the time anyway as Komaeda went on.

“Not to mention that surely you remember what starvation _does_ to a vampire. A few days pass, and all it’d take to send you into a frenzy would be one little _whiff_.” A contemplative pause, and then, “One person might not even be enough to fill you afterwards.”

Hinata stared down blankly, feeling like the ground was falling to pieces under him, and he barely heard himself as he asked, “What am I supposed to do? What would kill me? Should I just...impale myself on something...?” He laughed, dryly. “Maybe I can get exorcised. Maybe that’ll work.”

“Hinata-kun, you’re a vampire not _possessed_.” Komaeda was giving him such an odd, innocent look. He couldn’t help but snicker at that, even with an edge that rubbed his throat raw.

“Maybe I’ll just eat mouthfuls of garlic.”

“That would just make you sick as it would any normal person,” Komaeda said, and then tacked on, “Probably.”

Hinata laughed even harder as he trembled, covering his face. He would’ve clawed his eyes out then and there if he didn’t stop himself. But he kept on laughing and laughing until his voice grew jagged and he just crumbled into the floor.

“I can’t do this,” he wheezed, breath hitching. “I just _can’t_ do this. I was just a normal guy—how the hell did this even _happen_ to me? I just... I...”

_When I said I wanted to be special—this ISN’T what I meant—! I didn’t want to be a monster! I just... I just...!!_

“You really are just hopeless, aren’t you?”

He flinched at the sudden touch—at Komaeda’s delicate fingers stroking the nape of his neck, all along the rounded bumps of bones. But somehow, he found himself calming as those careful strokes were repeated over and over.

“I pity you,” Komaeda says. “You’re a really, really pitiful person, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata whined at that.

“I should kill you,” Komaeda went on. “Would you like that? I can make it painless, I think. If not, the burning shouldn’t last too long.”

_Can I really ask something like that? It’d just be fair right? It’d just be..._

“It wouldn’t do anything for me,” Komaeda said matter-of-factly, making Hinata’s thoughts stop dead in their tracks. “But if you really want that, Hinata-kun, I guess I don’t mind.”

_No..._ Hinata swallows, feeling his teeth itch as he grinded them together. _I..._

“I shouldn’t impose on you like that. It...wouldn’t be right. It’s...” Shakily, he pushed himself up. “It’s not your responsibility. And I’m just being cowardly. I...” He took in a deep breath, hoping to soothe his nerves. He almost made himself dizzy instead, so he just shook his head furiously before going on. “Komaeda, at least... At least let me make up what I’ve done to you...”

“Oh, how chivalrous,” Komaeda commented, a hand on his cheek. “It’s really unnecessary, though. You made me tea, Hinata-kun. So I’m fine now.”

“It’s not fine,” Hinata said simply, glaring at the floor. “It’s not. There has to be something else I can do.”

“Well, aside from helping me kill that woman, I really wouldn’t know.” Komaeda twirled around a lock of his hair thoughtfully. “Hinata-kun, would you do anything else I asked of you?”

“Probably,” Hinata muttered, low and almost inaudibly.

“That almost sounds like you’re offering me your life, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda noted.

“Why not?” Hinata huffed bitterly. “It’s not like I want it.”

There was a moment of pensive silence.

“That’s dangerous, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda mused. “I could ask for something unsavory or unusual.”

“I’m not killing anyone. And I’m not going back to that woman.” Hinata didn’t even miss a beat, speaking in that continually dismal tone of voice. “Other than that, I’ll probably do whatever.”

“Well, if Hinata-kun insists,” Komaeda says, and cheerfully adds, “It’s lonely around here anyway. I might like the company.”

“You’d like a monster’s company?” Hinata asks sardonically, the corner of his lips twitching as he finally turned towards the other.

He immediately went still, eyes going wide and sight narrowing in on Komaeda, tugging collar of his t-shirt to expose more of a gaunt collarbone and the deep juncture between neck and shoulder.

“I don’t mind _providing_ for someone if it’s you,” Komaeda said sweetly, in a light enough lilt that it had Hinata swallowing with the slightest of tremors. “Hinata-kun’s a kind person after all. If nothing else your presence should be pleasant enough.”

_Dangerous..._

Hinata ran his tongue along his teeth and tried to keep his shivering down as he bit down on it.

“You, uh, really are something else, huh?” he asked, wavering just a bit as he forced a strained smile. “I don’t get how you can just say stuff like that so easily. That’s... That’s just not normal...”

Komaeda’s smile widens.

“I thought we went over my supposed normalcy, Hinata-kun. Don’t tell me you forgot?”

“No, I didn’t!” Hinata hurriedly insisted. “I-I just—you know what I meant, right?”

“Of course,” Komaeda said kindly in a tone that Hinata wasn’t sure to believe or not. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Unless I’m misunderstanding, our arrangement is settled.”

“Arrangement? That’s how you’re going to word it?” Hinata asked warily.

“Compromise, then?” Komaeda suggested, giving him a curious look when Hinata looked less than satisfied with the new word choice, but then moved on anyway, “Whatever it is—Hinata-kun is basically mine to order around, provided it’s within reason. Right?”

“That’s...right, I guess...” Wasn’t it? It certainly would be _if..._ Hinata tore his eyes from Komaeda’s neck to focus stubbornly back onto the floor. “I’ll...do my best not to be too much of a...leech.”

Komaeda giggled at that. “A funny joke! Things are looking up already! I’m still disappointed about that woman but—I don’t mind this. This is nice. Isn’t this nice, Hinata-kun?”

Hinata shrugged helplessly.

“Hope _less_ ,” Komaeda laughs, almost sing-songs before offering the other a hand. “You’re truly a dire case.”

“I guess,” Hinata mumbled, taking the hand and letting himself get pulled to his feet. He does stumble a bit before regaining his ground, and it’s embarrassing but...

The way Komaeda laughs, somehow, calms him down a little. It doesn’t take much for his chest to feel tight again, but it’s something.

“I...” Hinata starts, tone dragging, lowering his head. “I’m really...really sorry. For, uh, you know.”

“I believe you, Hinata-kun.” Komaeda doesn’t even miss a beat. “It’s really nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Hinata almost says something, protests, maybe. But that’d just get really annoying, so he doesn’t.

_I said I’d do whatever he said as long as it was in reason._

“Hopefully the tea hasn’t gotten cold,” Komaeda noted as he brushed past him without a care and oh so _casually_ —almost like he was already used to him. Hinata’s stare followed him, noting how the curls of his wild white hair bounced with each step.

He noted how Komaeda reached up to tuck several runaway tresses behind his ear, and he took notice of how the strands curved against his touch, how they curved against the nape of his pale, perfect neck.

The memory of his taste is still fresh.

Hinata shook his head furiously and just followed after him.

* * *

“Can I ask something, Komaeda?”

“Ah, sure.” Komaeda looked at him curiously from his book, smiling acceptingly. Hinata wouldn’t deny something in him stirred at such an expression. Especially with the adorable tilt of Komaeda’s head as he implored, “What is it?”

“That...woman. Enoshima _Junko_.” The name tasted so repulsive he almost spat it out even as he struggled to keep his tone controlled. “I still maintain that I’m not going back to her...”

“Mmhm,” Komaeda nods, but the hum is almost noncommittal. Hinata overlooks it, just because it’s Komaeda. And besides, there’s something else a bit more worrying at the moment.

“Are you going to look for another vampire she changed? If you’re tracking her down, I mean... Are you going to be looking for more information on her?”

“Well, obviously,” Komaeda snorts like it’s just that simple. But he does turn thoughtful. “But, it was chance that brought me to Hinata-kun, so I do wonder...”

“Chance?” Hinata echoed. Komaeda nods, and then, smiling wider and easier, he explained.

“Didn’t you think it was strange that I was wandering around in such a remote area in the first place? I had a feeling that there was something— _important_ there but I didn’t know what! And when I turned around one of the corners...!” His voice almost grew harsh with thrill and excitement as Hinata just blinked back uncomprehendingly. Even as Komaeda stopped himself, giving him only a meaningful look, Hinata didn’t really understand at all.

It really didn’t make much sense.

“I think we were fated to meet, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda says. “It was just my luck I ran into you and—considering how you _are_ , considering where you _came_ from—it’s _something_ , don’t you see?”

It didn’t make sense at all.

“Is it something other than a disappointment?” Hinata asked.

“Oh,” Komaeda exhales, honestly surprised. Just as Hinata winced, he went on, innocently, “I’m not sure if it will be. But, I think I’m willing to see this through. It’d just be a waste killing you, I think.”

_How could it be a waste? It’s not like a monster has worth or anything._

“Komaeda, you’re...weird.”

“I don’t mean to be.” Komaeda’s smile saddens. “But I’m not surprised you feel that way when everyone else does. I worry you’ll end up disliking me too, Hinata-kun.”

_Compared to how much I dislike myself?_ “I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s not like I think you’re a bad person or anything.”

“You’re so direct!” Komaeda exclaimed with a delighted clap. “How charming!”

“Not...! R- _Really_...” Hinata broke into a mutter, feeling flustered.

“So _modest_ ,” the other coos, and just as Hinata bristles, he adds, “If nothing else, this compromise between us is bound to be...interesting, don’t you think?”

_Interesting._ Hinata thinks, biting his tongue. It’s almost enough to break the surface. _That’s a word for it._

The scent everywhere—he wonders if he’ll ever get used to it. Maybe he’ll get tired of it. Maybe he’ll get bored and then—

...And then, _what_?

Hinata’s mind went blank with confusion.

_What else is there besides this? It’s either this or killing myself, right? There aren’t any other options._

Except—

**_No._** He refused the thought so quickly he almost felt ill as he shook his head fiercely. ** _No, no, no—I’m not going back!_**

He forced out her smile, her voice, her laugh, just her, her, _her_ — _no, **no** , _**no** _—!_

“ _Hi_ nata- _kun_.”

Komaeda’s voice snapped him out it. He picked up on Komaeda’s sweet, salivating scent, and the soft, dismayed frown on that delicate face. Something she would have loved to ruin.

Komaeda... He hated that woman and yet, for whatever reason, with Hinata, _he_...

He really didn’t understand.

“You look especially troubled,” Komaeda said, pursing his lips. “You must be thinking of something especially unpleasant. That’s unhealthy behavior, Hinata-kun.”

“Yeah,” Hinata just nods, almost a little too eagerly. “Yeah, you’re right. My, uh, bad. Sorry.”

“That’s not exactly something to apologize for—but I do still worry,” Komaeda sighs. “Especially since it’s pretty obvious what’s on your mind. You aren’t exactly a subtle person in terms of your thoughts, Hinata-kun.”

“That’s...” Hinata stops, and then, shaking his head a bit more gently, says, “It’s not important. I’m not going back.”

“Did you know vampires tend to feel drawn to the one who changed them?” Komaeda asks, and his tone’s like he’s just tossing out a random, meaningless bit of trivia. “More than some resist such a pull, of course, and defiantly go off on their own, but the weaker-willed ones... Even if they run off, they end up returning.”

“I’m _not_ going back,” Hinata snarled.

“No,” Komaeda agrees simply, like that was that. “After all, as agreed, your life is mine, not hers. You’re going to stay with me and do whatever I tell you to do—within reason. Right?”

_He’s not going to make me go back. He’s not going to make me kill anyone—and it’s not like I’ll need anyone else when he’s here and willing._

What a sickening thought. And maybe, just maybe, he should feel a little warier about said agreement. _But..._

It’s not like Komaeda can really _make_ him do anything. He’s just a human, and an especially fragile one at that. But if there’s anything that’s dangerous, it’s _that_ line of thinking. That’s the kind of thinking _she’d_ encourage.

He’s not going back to her. He _won’t_.

This is...better. Far more preferable. Hell, it’s too good to be true. It’s...beyond worrying.

_It’s wrong to take advantage of him like this..._ Hinata thinks, but he nods at the earlier question and sheepishly returns Komaeda’s bright smile. _But what else can I do?_

“This is nice,” Komaeda says, fiddling with the page as he flipped to the next. That smile brightens even more. “Isn’t this nice, Hinata-kun? I don’t mind this at all.”

_You don’t mind at all?_

Hinata rapped his fingers against the table. The sight before him was serene, almost...intimate with the way Komaeda’s gaze flickered for a brief moment to meet his own—and for that moment, that smile widened even more.

He could have imagined it. Komaeda was almost right back to reading his book as soon as Hinata felt his breath hitch. But even then, this didn’t feel real either.

At some point later today, Komaeda was going to offer him either his wrist or his neck. Maybe Komaeda would have a task for him afterwards like—preparing more tea, tending to the wounds, doing laundry or maybe something even more mundane like getting groceries. He wondered if Komaeda would want the same generic things Hinata himself used to get before...her.

...For now, Komaeda just wanted them both to relax in silence. He offered Hinata a book, too, but... Hinata just stuck to sitting across from him on the plush couch, watching him the entire time like _that_ wasn’t creepy or anything.

And Komaeda was just fine with that, even if he questioned the intrigue that’d come from such observation.

Hinata, honestly, questioned it himself but...

Maybe he thought that the longer he stared—the more it’d settle into his mind that this was _real_.

The scent was dizzying even now, especially as he was just, for lack of a better term, _basking_ in it. He didn’t need to feed but—god, that didn’t make the smell any less _tempting_.

“If you’re thirsty,” Komaeda says without even looking up as he brushes his hair back, exposing the side of his neck. “I don’t mind feeding you, Hinata-kun.”

_Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?_

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Better in Red](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10906407) by [hongmunmu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hongmunmu/pseuds/hongmunmu)




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